From Lehman to Pacific Gas and Electric, the mighty have fallen, taking down billions and billions with them.

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Lehman Brothers Holdings

Rank: 1Date of bankruptcy filing: 09/15/08Assets: $691 billion

One of the biggest calamities of the current recession is the fall of the once highly regarded (and onetime fourth-largest) Wall Street investment firm, which was forced to file for
bankruptcy protection last September, the largest corporate filing in the history of U.S. bankruptcy court. As a result, the company's North American investment banking and trading
businesses and New York City headquarters were sold to British bank Barclays. Some of Lehman's U.S. businesses, including wealth management firm Neuberger-Berman, continue to operate
as stand-alone entities under new ownership. And because of the company's global reach, its bankruptcy proceedings are complex, ongoing, and have resulted in the closing of 80 of the
bank's smaller subsidiaries.